When President Trump took the oath of office 12 months ago, these United States were perhaps more divided than they had been in decades. The cleavages weren’t just political, but struck to the core of people’s identity, and even their conceptions of reality. It wasn’t just that West Virginians and Californians disagreed politically; they seemed to occupy different realities.

In the face of such a divisive election, we decided to start an unfiltered conversation between these divided communities. For the past 12 months, OZY politics reporter Nick Fouriezos has been spending a week in each state, covering innovative people and ideas to gain a better understanding of this imperfect union.

In our groundbreaking States of the Nation project, we’ve found much that unites us — and plenty of issues that deserve more discussion inside the Beltway. After capping off the series in Hawaii this week, here we present some of the highlights of our national tour, giving an OZY take on the state of this union, just a few days before President Trump delivers his.

More divided than ever, large swaths of the nation are being reshaped — and this maligned state could show the way forward.Why you should care: Because to start understanding rural America, it helps to go there.